Zare Leonis

I was really hoping to have a report on how the virgin Star Wars viewing went last week…but turns out my friend’s husband decided to get appendicitis that day so they were in the hospital and had to reschedule. Really? Lame excuse.

So instead I’m here to talk about the first season of Star Wars Rebels, my thoughts, what I liked and disliked.

Overall, I really liked Rebels, and I definitely liked it a lot more than I liked The Clone Wars when I first started watching it. You guys have heard me mention many times that I actually was furious at TCW when they began the show (Anakin has a padawan? What?? What are all these random storylines thrown in??). I didn’t want there to be the recurring, older characters. I wanted a fresh start. Though I grew to love and enjoy TCW, we definitely had a rocky start to our relationship.

This was not the case with Rebels. I loved these characters that were not in the movies and I loved the settings. It was different from TCW in that the animation was softer, not as angular or harsh. For the most part, I liked the animation style. I thought the ships were done excellently, though I believe the people didn’t flow as well as I would have liked. Most of the time they were good, but sometimes they seemed a little jerky.

The throwbacks in Rebels were also fun to watch. I loved that they pulled from Ralph McQuarrie, especially for Lothal, and his touch was a constant, even with Zeb and Chopper. The lightsaber fight in the last episode screamed of TPM (it was nice to see a Prequel nod) and characters like Lando were thrown in to remind us of the OT.

The storyline was also pretty good. Out of the entire season, there was only one episode I really disliked and that was “Droids in Distress”. Clearly it was an episode just to throw a bone to the fans who wanted to see characters they knew (Artoo and Threepio). I didn’t like “Path of the Jedi” (I’m not a fan of Yoda speaking to people when he’s off on some far off swampy planet) or “Idiot’s Array” that much either, but I thought they had nuggets of character development that I appreciated.

My favorite episodes were:

“Breaking Ranks” – Ezra joins the Empire temporarily and befriends Zare Leonis, who later becomes a spy for the band of Rebels. I still think Zare is also Finn, but maybe I should drop that point for now.

“Empire Day” – I loved the political undercurrents in this, as well as finding out a lot about Ezra’s family. It gave us some insight into who he is and why he is so against the Empire. It kind of put a purpose to his mischief, as opposed to someone who just caused trouble for the hell of it.

“Call to Action” through “Fire Across the Galaxy” – I understand why they can’t do episode arcs that much in the beginning of the season. First, they need to find out if they are going to get renewed. No point in investing in characters and storylines if it gets canceled. Second, you need to pull the viewer in and the easiest way to do that is with one-and-done episodes. Everything is somewhat resolved by the end of the episode, but there are hints to a larger storyline. But this episode arc was really great. The Empire (including a steady appearance of Grand Moff Tarkin – whom I actually didn’t mind showing up at all) is getting uneasy with all the Rebels and Tarkin is upset that Agent Kallus and the Inquisitor have not been able to capture them yet. By the end of the first episode, Kanan is captured, and the next two episodes show how the crew of Ghost come together to rescue him. What I liked is not that it was a simple, “Yes, let’s go get him!” but there were doubts, especially from Hera. She had to decide between the mission and Kanan. It took some convincing from the rest of the crew (and disobeying her orders), including Chopper, to finally make her see that Kanan was worth going after. At the end of the final episode in Season One, we get to find out who “Fulcrum” is … and it’s Ahoska! I did a little squeal, I admit it. AHSOKA HAS RETURNED!

Ashley Eckstein’s voice too!

So now that Ahsoka is back in the storyline and canon, I guess it brings up a lot of interesting questions. Does she know Vader is Anakin, her former Jedi Master? Does she know Yoda and Obi-Wan are alive? Or is she acting on her own in this rebellion? She has connections to Bail Organa, and Organa knows that Yoda and Obi-Wan are alive. Do you think Ahsoka just assumes Anakin died in the Jedi Purge?

My favorite character was the Inquisitor and I loved him so much. I thought he was actually kind of brilliant, though he actually created more questions for me than anything else. Maybe I just liked Jason Isaacs voice (ahhh so hot). But I understood why he had to die. Grand Moff Tarkin made it quite clear that he would not suffer failure…so if Kanan got away (which he did), the Inquisitor would not have been a welcome guest at Vader and the Emperor’s dinner party. But now they bring in Vader…this could be interesting. If they keep Vader in Season 2 as a steady character, I hope they stay true to his character. Don’t take away from his scariness, add to it. Don’t be afraid of making him as ruthless as he seems to be in ANH. Don’t show any sympathetic gestures from him.

I think Rebels has potential. I’m interested to see if there are any tie-ins to The Force Awakens and to see how they link this back to ANH. Already they have Tarkin playing a somewhat major role and Vader seems to be stepping into the picture as well. I want to see more interesting episode arcs and less silly standalone episodes. Perhaps I’m asking for too much, too soon, but I think they’ve been doing a good job, but I want to see it become great, like TCW did.

What were your thoughts on Season One of Rebels? Did you like it? Dislike it? Will you watch Season two?

So we all watched it last week and had a great discussion about what the heck is possibly going on in The Force Awakens.

I thought that since it’s been a week, now is a good time to organize my thoughts, excitement, and speculations and write everything down. It will be fun to come back in a year-ish and see which of my predictions were right, and which were wrong.

Overall, I liked the trailer. I’ve heard complaints that people wanted to see the original cast back, but I’ve said from the beginning that I really wanted them to focus on the new cast and give a fresh look to Star Wars. They did that with the trailer and I’m happy about that.

I was also happy at just how much of a tease it was. So many questions left unanswered and so many theories now in place.

This is a looooooooooooong blog post, mostly for my own reference next year, but if you’re a die-hard Star Wars fan, then plow ahead. (Oh wait, that’s all of you)

******

Trailer fades in and all we hear is,

There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?

I spent a long time trying to figure out the voice. My first thought was Andy Serkis, and then I completely wiped that from my mind and I swore it was Benedict Cumberbatch, despite his denial that he’s in VII. I thought maybe he wasn’t appearing in VII, but his voice was there…mysterious and elusive and he will appear in person in VIII and IX. I was completely wrong (but originally right) because Andy Serkis confirmed he’s the voice.

THEN BAM! Up pops John Boyega in a stormtrooper outfit on a desert planet.

Boyega: My first gut reaction is that he’s on Tatooine. I still believe that because it would be a nice way to tie all the trilogies together. We visit Tatooine in the first movie of each trilogy (ANH and TPM) so I think it would be appropriate to also see it in TFA. Will the main star come from Tatooine like Anakin and Luke did?

Most interesting is that Boyega is in the stormtrooper outfit with his helmet off. When have we ever seen that with a stormtrooper? Never. We’ve seen it with clonetroopers, but not stormtroopers. He also looks paranoid, frightened, and is definitely out of breath. Why the urgency? What’s going on here?

Is there significance with the way he pops up after the voice over mentions “the awakening”? Could Boyega’s character randomly have the Force awakened in him? We’ve thought that the Force is with someone from their birth and it doesn’t awaken out of the blue. In a sense, it awakened with Luke when Obi-Wan began his training, so perhaps that is the case with Boyega’s character, though the voice over suggests otherwise.

Ezra and Zare

My final thought on this shot is my grand revelation I had last Friday that Boyega is actually the stormtrooper that Ezra met in the Star Wars Rebels episode “Breaking Ranks”. If so, his character name would be Zare Leonis and he infiltrated the Imperial Academy in search of his missing sister. When Ezra escapes, Zare decides to stay to continue his personal mission. Disney and LFL said that they wanted to start tying the canon together more with the books, shows, and movies. If my theory is correct, this could be step in the right direction. Perhaps we will never see Zare again in SWR, but his storyline will be revealed in TFA. It could also explain why perhaps he’s on the run in this episode. Maybe he’s escaping the Empire (finally).

On top of that, what if his sister is played by Lupita Nyong’o? We don’t see her character at all in this trailer, but they gave Zare’s sister a name in SWR (Dhara) and why do that with no intention of ever bringing the storyline back?

It might be a bit of a stretch though, since Boyega himself is 22 years old. But Nyong’o is 31 so it could work…maybe…?

As we transition to the next scene, you can faintly hear a probe droid, so it reaffirms the fact that he could be on the run.

Soccer ball droid: Your guess is as good as mine. No idea how that droid would function, what it was there for, or if it was even important. I checked through the Prequels trailers and they did have some random shots of ships that really had no real bearing on the story. So maybe that was the case with soccer ball droid, or maybe it does mean something. The only thing I saw of significance was the junk it was rolling past. Looks a lot like podracers to me…

Empire: Stormtroopers in garish, flashing light. Oh, and isn’t one a little short for a stormtrooper? Could that be John Boyega again? So we know stormtroopers = Empire, so it brings us to the question…did the Rebellion not destroy the Empire in ROTJ? Is it still alive and well? And look at the helmets! Different, but similar.

There are also rumblings online that they could be in an Imperial Troop Transport. Apparently Kenner released a toy of them but no one has actually seen them on film (It was in SWR though). So is that true and it’s making it’s first movie appearance? If you see the quick shot, it also looks like the stormtroopers have new-ish blasters as well.

And then we see their feet and it looks like they are about to descend into the night. But where? What planet? There are lights, not natural lights, when you look into the night as the ship opens. The dots of white and red make me think it’s some kind of civilization where they may be going to attack.

Ridley: Daisy Ridley! Wooo. She jumps on some sort of speeder, that kind of looks like a cross between an AA-9 Coruscant Freighter and podracer, but different. And yet, did anyone else feel like it was eerily similar? Like I had seen it before?

But let me just say this was my FAVORITE scene. It was so reminiscent of Leia on Endor that my heart sang. The outfit was even similar to what the Rebels wore on Endor with the over-the-shoulders slouch look.

There has been a lot of speculation on the fact that she had some sort of spear and/or lightsaber right next to her when she jumped on, but then it wasn’t there when she was flying away. I also noticed that. Look:

Now you see it…

…now you don’t

The hilt definitely looks like a lightsaber, but the blade somehow encased or contained? Why is it missing in the next scene? Honestly, I think it was a mistake by the editors. They aren’t even close to done with the film and they probably have a bunch of different shots, some with that lightsaber thing and some without. Abrams probably didn’t want us seeing it and getting too much information so he didn’t want it in the scene. You know what…I have no idea, but I really think it was a mistake.

And she, like Boyega, looks like she is running from something and is slightly nervous. As she speeds off into the distance, we see her going towards something that looks almost like the junk we saw in the background of the soccer ball droid. Is it the same place?

X-Wings: Woooo! X-Wings are back and Oscar Isaac is at the helm. And notice guys…notice….the Rebel Insignia!!! I had had moments of fear that they would completely change it and then my tattoo would be a remnant of a lost time, but nope. Loud and proud on his helmet AND his fighter uniform. Also, remember how I mentioned a year ago that most of the Insignia’s were actually a dark blue, not the red we always place with them? Looks like Abrams remembers that too since the one on his uniform is the dark blue, though the one on the helmet is red.

But of course that brings up the recurring question AGAIN…are we still fighting the Empire? Still? WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

The X-wings fly over the water, which I actually could not figure out was water at first, silly me. Just from the lighting, I thought it was actually Hoth again and they were flying over ice the first two times I watched it. Beautiful shots though, right? I love the artistry so far. However…this scene actually makes me think it might be a closing scene of the movie. Something about the lighting and the way there are three going into battle. Will it be a final battle over the water? THAT would be different!

Sith: Okay, the big question. All over the internet and TV, I’ve seen people dissecting this blade and the big question, “Who is that?”

First, we’ll talk about the blade. I kind of like it. The pulsing, unclean cut to it makes me think of something unfinished. Perhaps due to the Sith (supposedly) being wiped out, this person had to create a lightsaber based on what they researched. And this is what it is?

But what about those little blades coming out and making it seem like a cross guard? I’ve read so much from people who think it’s stupid (what if your hand slips?) to people who think it’s practical as it will stop another lightsaber from chopping off your hand (that happens a lot, it seems). I think…meh. Don’t really like it actually. I like the unfinished look of the blade, just not the cross guards.

As for who it is – I really, really want it to be Gwendoline Christie. Really badly. I’d love to think that the fact they were hiding the person was because we are finally, FINALLY get a female Sith.

Logic is pointing to Adam Driver because ever since he was cast he has been attached with the Sith rumor. Some fans believe it could even be Luke due to the fact that they think this person’s right hand/arm is thicker than the other so perhaps it’s a bionic hand in there. I disagree. The gait of the villain (if it is a villain) seemed to be of a younger person. And a very tall person at that. Christie and Driver come in at 6’3” and Hamill comes in at 5’9”.

The voice returns.

The dark side.

And the light.

And then YAY IT’S THE FALCON. Who got goosebumps then? I certainly did. The effect of it turning around and we’re following it upside down at this crazy angle and then there are TIE Fighters coming at you…MAGIC. Loved it. Second favorite moment for me, for sure. And with the theme blaring in the background. Happiness. Pure happiness.

Again though, why the TIEs? The Empire is somehow back in this movie. Another desert planet, but this whole time we have not seen any sign of twin suns so we can’t confirm it’s Tatooine. The Falcon also has a rectangular dish on it, no longer a circular one because if you remember, it got knocked off on the second Death Star run.

*****

The only question left for me at the end, on which I have no real theories on, is the voice. Serkis’ overarching voice gave us a narrative that seems most unusual for Star Wars. What character is that? It seemed a little too neutral to me. Are they good or bad? Do they play a big role or are they, like my original theory on Cumberbatch, elusive for the first movie?

Time will tell, but for now, I’m pumped, excited, and can’t wait for the next trailer, much less the actual movie a year from now.